The Madness at Koresh Manor­ Part 7

“Did you see Rain?” Karalius asked standing against the walls.

                “Nope,” Raphael told her with a massive yawn. He was shown around the mansion as Cyrus explained that they are a cult or as he put it a church wanted to live in peace, but with everything that happens to the last people named Koresh, they felt it was best to get out of dodge. This go around he said they didn’t trade in guns, and he came from a wealthy family who was dead, and Raphael wanted to make a joke about them being kill by Cyrus himself, but it wouldn’t have been taken very well. He said nothing other than to himself. Outside of the endless talking and being shown around the whole place the day was easy. He ate well, and the people he met were friendly, suspicious of him, but pleasant nevertheless.

                He asked a few times about Rain, but Cyrus said the man didn’t want to meet him.

                “What could I do?” He asked the black fox lady frowning.

                “No, you are right,” she agreed. “Doesn’t this place feel off to you?”

                “Well, it is cult so yes,” he said. “But if you mean outside of that, it might be the magic you are feeling.”

                “It feels wrong here,” she said looking out the window up to the mansion. It deep into the Canada night and to their luck, no one could see her. “There some kind of dark ghost hanging around.”

                “I’m sure there is,” Raphael said, “Rain is here.”

                Karalius looked back at him knowing he was right for the most part. Rain Lovecraft came from the Lovecraft family who had been fighting true evil for longer than anyone knows outside of what H.P. Lovecraft wrote about in his books. Most people believe those stories were made up by some kind of madman not knowing the truth of the matter; it was all real to some degree. There were no dark gods or elder ones who as powerful as gods, but there were real-life monsters, and Lovecraft stopped most of them until it drove him mad. He wrote a few other books explaining how he believes the dark gods or elder ones were the most powerful fallen angels in existence and he spent some time with the other side of that coin. Those books as you know never saw the light of day.

                Rain carried on his family tradition and was surprisingly good at it. His mother and father did the same thing which kept them out of Rian’s life most of the time. At least there was something they could have in common, Raphael remarked to himself. 

                “It’s not the same magic,” Karalius said. “It’s something else.”

                “You live with the guy,” Raphael said almost accusing her of some greater sin. She shot him a hard look. “What I’m saying you feel his ‘magic’ all the time,” he joked.

                “Not funny.”

                “I never said I was funny just being sarcastic.”

                “Trust me I know,” she said looking back out the window. “We need to find him and get him out of here.”

                “What if he doesn’t want to go?” Raphael asked.

                “I’m sure he is brainwash.”

                “And if he is not?” he asked. “Tell me you have thought about it?”

                “Either way I want to ask him myself,” Karalius told him. “Now are you coming with me or not?”

                “Would love too,” Raphael said. “It’s been a dull day outside of the snowball fight.”

                “Yeah, I saw that.”

                “It was fun,” Raphael said with a shy grin. “And it’s nice you keep an eye on me, but I’m an independent man who needs no woman.”

                Karalius shook her head trying not to laugh at his stupid joke. “Any guards around?” He asked.

                “There were a few in hiding in the woods,” she said. “Let me go check in on them.”

                “Don’t knock them out,” he said watching her walk through the walk. He waited for the text to tell him to move and he worried Karalius was to in her head about who she thinks Rain is deep down. She had to know Rain could have chosen all of this for himself and if he did, no matter how insane it might be, then they had to leave him here.

                Of course, there was the chance of mass suicide, and the little fact Rain could bring on the end of the world was something to consider. Something if Raphael was honest with himself he hadn’t thought of much either. His phone vibrated telling him to run into the woods right in front of the cottage.

                All those hours and years of running paid off as his head stopped beside the tree in the dark woods. He glanced around to make sure he has not been followed and from what he could see he was clear. The guards, he hoped were not unconscienced face in down the snow somewhere, wouldn’t notice his tracks in the snow. If Karalius did knock them out cold or worst, then someone in the morning would be looking for them. It would make Raphael’s life a little harder.

                Karalius green eyes phase through a tree and said order, “Follow me, love.”

                They moved toward the mansion on top of the hill and Raphael couldn’t help but notice how well she had been trained by Paladin. He wonders what kind of mission they had sent her on since they had stopped talking. She carried sniper rifle like it was a part of her like her tail. He needed to ask her how long it took her to get uses to her tail and if she ever knocked everything down around her for a while. It was a funny question which made him grin even in the cold darkness. They stopped against the outer wall of the mansion kneeling.

                “How do we get in?” Raphael asked in a whisper. “Can you phase me through?”

                “Sadly,” Karalius said with a shake of her head, “it doesn’t work like that, but I saw a backdoor on the other side while scouting out the area. I’ll get in and unlock the door for you.”

                “I don’t think we are going to need it,” Raphael said standing up making Karalius turn away to face Rain stepping out of the dark.